Joseph Michael Morgan, who spent parts of two seasons with the Cleveland Indians and later became famous as the Boston Red Sox manager behind “Morgan Magic,” has died. He was 95.
The Red Sox announced the death of the Walpole, Massachusetts, native. No cause was given. Morgan is survived by four children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Cleveland fans remember a brief but productive late-season look in 1960. Acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 9, the left-handed-hitting infielder and occasional outfielder appeared in 22 games for the Indians that year.
He hit .298 with two home runs and four RBI in 47 at-bats — both of his career major-league homers coming in a two-week span at Municipal Stadium.
On Aug. 30 he took Baltimore’s Chuck Estrada deep. On Sept. 10 he homered off Washington’s Ted Sadowski and finished with three hits and two runs scored in a 5-4 Indians win. He also played 12 games at third base and two in the outfield that season.
Morgan returned for four games in 1961, starting twice in center field, before moving on. In 88 career big-league games across five clubs (Milwaukee Braves, Kansas City Athletics, Phillies, Indians and St. Louis Cardinals), he batted .193 with two homers and 10 RBI.
He was primarily a third baseman who also saw time at second and in the outfield.
The rest of his baseball life was spent in uniform as a coach, scout and manager. After years developing talent in the minors — including a long stint with Pawtucket — Morgan took over the Red Sox at the 1988 All-Star break. Boston was 43-42 and nine games out.
Under Morgan, the club won 12 in a row and 19 of 20, captured the AL East and created the lasting “Morgan Magic” chapter of Fenway lore. He managed Boston through 1991, winning another division title in 1990.
For Indians followers of a certain age, Morgan is a footnote with a couple of loud swings in the late summer of 1960. For a generation of New England fans he became a folk hero.
Either way, he spent nearly four decades in the game after a long minor-league grind that included winters plowing the Massachusetts Turnpike.
The franchise now known as the Guardians was still the Indians when Morgan wore the uniform. Those two home runs remain the entirety of his Cleveland power ledger — and a small but real piece of the club’s 1960s story.
